January 15, 2005_Piscal

Ocean County Politics .com

Editor's Note: According To A Source Considered To Be Reliable, Superior Court Judge Frank Piscal Has Retired.

Piscal's Pension Will Be In The Neighborhood Of $90,000 A Year, Funded By The Taxpayers He Betrayed And Sold Down The River So Many Times.

The Following Story Was Originally Run On The OCP WebSite On July 18, 2003.

We Reprint It Now As A Public Service. Good Riddance:

Ocean County Superior Court Judge Only Gets A “Censure” After Selling Out The Public Trust And The Integrity Of The Judiciary

“Supreme” Court Taps Judge Frank Piscal On The Wrist After Its Own Advisory Committee On Judicial Conduct Recommended A Month’s Suspension From The Bench

Advisory Committee Says Piscal’s Misconduct Was “Destructive Of Public Confidence In The Integrity And Impartiality Of The Judiciary”, But A Gentle Tap On The Wrist By The NJ “Supreme” Court Is The Only Penalty

Toms River: Superior Court “Judge” Frank Piscal gets to keep his cushy retirement benefits, his lifetime health insurance coverage, his $164,000 salary and his black robes, all paid for by the poor slobs he sold down the river.

The Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct said Piscal’s order for the arrest and incarceration of a litigant as a political favor he thought was requested by Freeholder Jack Kelly was “destructive of public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.”

Litigant Was Jailed As A Result Of Political
Influence Peddling By Piscal

Harold Becker, a litigant in a matrimonial dispute, was jailed on the basis of a tainted order issued by Piscal, who jailed Mr. Becker as a result of a telephone request by Jack Kelly, who Piscal, perhaps the dumbest inmate in the Ocean County Court House, thought was Freeholder Jack Kelly.

Judge Piscal To Kelly (twice):
“We Never Had This Conversation”

“We never had this conversation”, Piscal told Kelly • • twice. Even though it was another Jack Kelly, not Freeholder Jack.

So “Judge” Piscal was exposed as a common influence peddler, as well as a phoney and a fraud, qualities which some citizens may find inconsistent with expectations of an anticipated minimum level of judicial temperament and independence.

"Judge” Piscal exposed the state government (and the county government) to a variety of legal actions regarding the fraudulent jailing of poor Harold Becker, as well as bringing into question the integrity and legitimacy of every other case Piscal ever tried.

How Much Jail Time Would Piscal
Expect? What Is The Penalty?

How much jail time would Piscal expect to receive for fraudulently rigging his decision to jail Becker as a political favor he thought he was doing for Freeholder Kelly?

What’s the penalty for rigging a judicial decision as a result of the grimiest kind of influence peddling?

He would face criminal charges, right? He would get disbarred and lose his right to practice law, right? He would lose his judgeship and his salary and his retirement benefits and his health coverage and his black robes because he violated the most basic trust every judge accepts and agrees to honor when he takes his oath of office and puts on the robes in the first place • • • RIGHT???
By dishonoring his office, he would lose the right to be referred to as “Your Honor” • • • Right?

Advisory Committee Recommended A Month’s Suspension

WRONG • • • on all counts! None of the above! The advisory committee recommended that Piscal be given a one month suspension for his misconduct.
But the New Jersey Supreme Court, the Chief “Justice” of which was calling State Senators a few weeks ago, begging to be reappointed, abandoned any pretense of objectivity including the one month suspension, and let Piscal off the hook completely - with a “censure”.

As a practical matter, a “censure” is a piece of paper that gets sent out, filed away as soon as it is received, and then forgotten. There are no real consequences, except a front page story in the Observer.

A Dozen John Bartletts In Ocean County,
One Of Them Lives On Vicari Avenue

There are a dozen John Bartletts in Ocean County. According to the telephone book, one of them lives on Vicari Avenue. Would this combination be a virtual Get Out Of Jail Free Card in Piscal’s court room? Think about it.

The $200K that Piscal receives from the public breast every year in salary and benefits, and other perks guaranteed to put a smile on his face, will be remembered gratefully at least as long as litigants are threatened with jail time if their adversaries have political connections - imaginary or otherwise. (7/18/03)